When Erik ten Hag predicted in the pre-game briefing that Manchester United could suffer another injury nightmare, the manager surely did not expect this to occur the next day, in the opening US tour game.
But on 14 minutes he was forced to relive last season when 66 was the total injury count and seen as a prime factor in United’s eighth-place finish. At this juncture Rasmus Højlund, Ten Hag’s star No 9, was forced off. Twenty minutes later the Dane was followed by Leny Yoro, the new £52m centre-back buy.
To this case of injury was added the insult of a late winner for Arsenal as Gabriel Martinelli darted across James Scanlon and beat Andre Onana with less than 10 minutes left.
The Gunners, probably, deserved the regulation time 2-1 win as they created more chances though neither Mikel Arteta’s or Ten Hag’s men were pictures of fluidity. Following this came the pre-agreed penalty shootout which ended in a 4-3 victory for United, Jadon Sancho the player with the decisive kick.
Before this Hojlund felt joy and despair. The clock showed 10 minutes gone when the Dane exposed the callowness of 17-year-old Ayden Heaven, who allowed the striker to gather Marcus Rashford’s pass along the left, then backed off and off. When inside Arsenal’s area, Højlund pulled the trigger, Karl Hein flapped at the ball, and in it rolled for a 1-0 lead.
Here, the joy. Now, after Aaron Wan-Bissaka raced along the right and crossed and Hojlund nearly doubled the score, the despair.
Ben White had put him off with a challenge for this latter opening, but whether this caused the problem was unclear. Surer was how, when Højlund went to ground, no chances were taken and the 21-year-old walked off to be replaced by Hannibal Mejbri, who took up his centre-forward berth.
Afterwards Ten Hag was asked about the striker and defender. “It’s too short, we have to wait over 24 hours then hopefully we will know more,” said the manager. “We were very careful especially with Leny. He did only 50% of the training sessions – that is very disappointing that he came off but lets be positive and see what is coming out.”
Before all of this Yoro gave United an early scare when he missed the ball and Gabriel Jesus ran in. As at Murrayfield on Saturday against Rangers’ Cyriel Dessers, Yoro’s pace and 6ft 3in frame allowed him to run back and stick a long leg out to recover, Onana gathering.
United’s No 1 was allowed scant chance for Jesus’s equaliser, though. Ethan Nwaneri took Onana out of the equation when sliding the ball to the Brazilian who tapped in. If this had a firm hint of offside no Var meant it stood, how Ten Hag wished Yoro could do the latter and carry on when he hit the turf with the problem that caused his removal.
Unlike Højlund, the Frenchman moved gingerly as he headed to join his team-mate in the changing room. This meant Rhys Bennett, a 20-year-old with a single League Two appearance on loan for Stockport County, entered.
The Dane and the Frenchman’s ill fortune took Ten Hag’s starting XI down to seven frontline players to Arsenal’s eight, who were led by the captain, Martin Ødegaard.
Mason Mount was, perhaps, United’s standout performer, as he showed quick thought and feet, operating as a No 10 who found the time and space that marks the better class of footballer.
At the break Arteta made two changes – Heaven and Nwaneri for Salah and Jakub Kiwior – and Ten Hag swung 10 substitutions, as only Onana remained.
United’s keeper remaining on proved a prudent move because when Leandro Trossard cut into the area and unloaded at close range, Onana’s cat-like reflexes had him beating the ball out.
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Arsenal were flipping possession about where they like to do so: in the final third, their movement causing the opponent to scurry about ball-chasing. So, when United broke, Jadon Sancho’s mazy run along the right that drew Arsenal back was welcome. As was his calm pivot and pass to Maximillian Oyedele.
United’s pre-season form had been a loss to Rosenberg (1-0) and a win over Rangers (2-0), as for this outing Omar Berrada watched on. The chief executive was joined at the 70,240-capacity SoFi Stadium by his sporting director, Dan Ashworth, Jason Wilcox, the technical director, and Dave Brailsford, who provides oversight to Sir Jim Ratcliffe, plus another of the co-owners, Avram Glazer.
Arsenal had drawn 1-1 with Bournemouth on Thursday, Fabio Veira their scorer, and the Portuguese was among a raft of Arteta changes just after the hour. Another substitute, Kai Havertz, had the ball taken off his head by Christian Eriksen when the German thought he would score. Next came Martinelli’s decisive intervention.
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Hein; White (Nichols, 63), Timber (Gabriel, 63), Heaven (Kiwior, ht), Zinchenko (Lewis-Skelly, 63); Odegaard (Havertz, 71), Jorginho (Partey, 63); Nelson (Martinelli, 71), Nwaneri (Salah, ht), Trossard (Viera, 63); Jesus (Nketiah, 63)
Subs: Partey, Gabriel, Martinelli, Nketiah, Kiwior, Viera, Havertz, Setford, Gower, Lewis-Skelly, Nichols, Nygaard, Salah, Rekik, Rojas, Rosiak, Sagoe Jr
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): Onana; Wan-Bissaka (Scanlon, ht), Yoro (Bennett, 34, (Fish, ht)), Maguire (Evans, ht), Amass (Murray, ht); Casemiro (Oyedele, ht), Collyer (Eriksen, ht); Amad (Antony, ht), Mount (McTominay, ht), Rashford (Sancho, ht); Hojlund (Mejbri, 14 (Wheatley, ht)
Substitutes: Heaton, Vitek, Fletcher, Mather
Attendance: 62, 486